Galen Glen customers invited to "Max the Mini" and "Burst the Beemer" at annual fundraising event for local charity

For the second year, the staff at Galen Glen Winery has chosen Family Promise of Carbon County to be the charity they support during their annual harvest fundraiser. "In 2014 we partnered with MINI of Allentown for our Max the Mini event" says Kathy Matson, Tasting Room Manager. "This year, the Daniels family of dealerships wanted to make the event even more fun by adding another car and 'Burst the Beemer' was born."

This year Daniels BMW and MINI of Allentown will have two cars onsite at the winery on Saturday, October 31 and Sunday, November 1 for visitors to bring much-needed items for the only homeless shelter in the area that helps homeless families with children stay together. The two dealerships are asking their clients to make it a competition to see which car gets filled faster, fuller, etc.

The dealership, in Allentown, organized a "rally" for the mini owners last year to arrive together and present their donations. They hope to organize MINI and BMW owners this year. The public is invited to come out and fill their favorite car with the needed donations of: toilet paper, paper towels, disinfectant wipes, hand soap, laundry soap, fabric softener, cleaning products, trash bags, diapers, baby wipes, deodorant, disposable razors as well as washcloths, bath towels, and new socks and underwear for men, women and children of all sizes. They will also be collecting monetary donations. Galen Glen will be offering a Halloween treat for every household who brings a donation.

Family Promise of Carbon County is based in Lehighton and allows homeless families to stay together. Unlike most shelters where women and children are separated from male family members, this program allows families to live together in the day center where thy learn new skills to find better jobs, make good nutrition and life choices. Then in the evenings they stay in host churches where they have their own bedrooms. The average length of stay in the program is 72.4 days and it is a sober-program, where all teens and adults submit to drug testing.

Since January 2015, 17 families, including 18 children under the age of 18, and 15 children under the age of 5 have graduated from the program. The program operates on donations and welcomes the community to get involved. For more information on this program, visit the Family Promise of Carbon County website: www.familypromiseofcarboncounty.com.

Blue Mountain toasts Halloween with the return of its Hallowine event

PAINT 'N SIP
October 16 from 7-9 pm
$30 per person

Join us October 16  from 7-9 pm for our Halloween themed Paint 'N Sip Night! Our own resident artist Kat Collins (take a look at some of her art around the winery) will guide you through a wine tasting to get those artistic juices flowing, then help you create your masterpiece decorated wine glass you can cherish for years to come! All materials included as well as your wine tasting. Seating is extremely limited.

LEHIGH VALLEY WINE TRAIL CHAMBOURCIN WEEKEND
October 17 & 18
Celebrate the “Jewel of the Lehigh Valley" with us!

October 17:
Noon - CHILI CONTEST - Sample chilis and judge which one is the best. Customers are welcome to enter their chili into the contest!
1 - 4 pm - Live music with Adam Motto (no reservations required)

October 18:
2 - 5pm Sunday Blues - Live music featuring Octavia Blues Band! RESERVATIONS REQUIRED.
Noon - 5pm - Open Gate Farm Tour - There will be crafts available for children and guided tours with the winemaker every 1/2 hour on the hour.

HALLOWINE 2015
featuring the Octavia Blues band
October 31 from 6-9 pm
$10 per person includes wine tasting and souvenir glass

You're invited to our annual Hallowine tasting! Come in costume to add to your fun and win prizes. Awards for best costume. Enjoy our award-winning wines while listening to live music featuring Octavia Blues Band. Some snacks will available, but feel free to bring your own (no outside alcohol allowed). RESERVATIONS REQUIRED.

SUNDAY BLUES
Every Sunday from 2-5 pm

Enjoy live entertainment on our outdoor or glass enclosed deck with commanding views of the mountains and our vineyards. Gourmet cheeses, fresh baked bread, dips, pretzels/chips, and pitchers of fruit and ice for Sangria are available for purchase or bring your own snacks.

Reserve a table for our Sunday Blues with award-winning musicians. Bring a picnic lunch, do a wine tasting, and enjoy! NO OUTSIDE ALCOHOL PERMITTED. $5 cover charge. Reservations required.

OCTOBER:

4 - Sarah Ayers & James Supra Quartet
11 - Connie Edinger
18 - Octavia Blues Band
25 - Jake Kaligis & Mike Rauscher

Holiday gift ideas from Blue Mountain Vineyards

The holidays are coming soon, so start planning now to get a head start.

It's hard to believe it's the end of September already! We know nobody wants to hear it, but Christmas is only 15 weeks, away. Instead of waiting until Christmas Eve, why not get a head start? We have some great gift ideas for you.

Custom Labels

Our Custom Label program offers endless possibilities at an affordable cost. Whether you're celebrating a special occasion or looking for a personalized gift, we can customize your label to fit your needs. Labels can be produced in black and white or color and can include any scanned image.

Adopt A Vine

Have you ever dreamed of owning your own vineyard?  Blue Mountain has made that dream a possibility! In August of each year you will be invited to a plaque ceremony. During the first ceremony, you will be given a plaque with your chosen inscription to place next to a vine of your choice. Starting the second year you will be presented a specially labeled bottle of wine at the ceremony for the next five years. The ceremony is followed by a wine tasting with entertainment and hors d'oeuvres.

Wine Club

The Connoisseurs Club at Blue Mountain Vineyards is a quarterly wine club aimed at giving our customers incredible value while adding a level of information and excitement. Be among the first to taste new releases, and have access to limited vintage that are not readily available elsewhere.

For more information about The Connoisseurs Club, email us at info@bluemountainwine.com or call us at 610-298-3068.

Tolino Fall Fundraiser happening this Saturday, Sept. 26

Tolino Vino Fall Fest and Fundraiser 
September 26 - noon - 7 pm
$10 in advance or $15 at the door

With five bands, two food trucks, grape stomps, and wagon rides to the vineyard, this day is guaranteed to be fun! A percentage of sales will be donated to the Cancer Support Community of the Greater Lehigh Valley in honor of Anna Mae Becker, who passed away from cancer. Anna Mae was an amazing member of the Tolino family who liked nothing better than sharing a glass of wine with  her family.

Purchase tickets for the Tolino Vino Fall Festival and Fundraiser.
 
Artist lineup:

Cherry Hill Duo - country/top40
Scott Marshall and Marshalls Highway - Americana/southern rock/country
Brummy Brothers - bluegrass
Matt Wheeler and Vintage Heart - folk/indie
Tom Vicario - oldies/country/top40

Food Trucks:
TAZA Truck - Egyptian inspired cuisine
Aioli Truck - American cuisine

WINE & SWINE PIG ROAST & GRAPE STOMP
October 3 at 1 pm
$29.95 per person.

A fresh local pig will be roasted on site by Little Creek BBQ. We will also be offering guests the chance to stomp grapes barefoot. Succulent pork sandwiches, okra, baked beans, potato salad and award winning bread pudding smothered in a Tolino wine glaze will be served from 1-3 pm. Enjoy live music by the Jay Players.

Tickets are $29.95 and include dinner, tasting six wines, and a souvenir glass.

FOOD TRUCKS & GOOD TUNES
 
September 26--Taza Truck and Aioli Truck at the Music Festival
October 10--Bad Bones BBQ @ 1pm with live music by Tom Vicario
October 17--Trixies Treats @ 1pm with live music by Blue Hearts Revelry
October 24--Stuffed to the Grills @1pm with music by Sage
October 31--Taza Truck @ 2:30pm with music by Brummy Brothers at 1pm.

EASTON PUBLIC MARKET

We are excited to be part of the new Easton Public Market!

In late fall 2015 the Easton Public Market will be opening at 325 Northampton street in Easton.  Tolino Vineyards will selling wine by the bottle and the glass among the vendors that include a chocolatier, butcher, coffee roaster, a fish monger and many more.

Taste the Grape, Taste the Wine this weekend at Galen Glen

It's harvest time. Have you ever thought about the grapes that make your favorite wines? Join us this weekend for a unique opportunity to taste a grape varietal being harvested this week along with the last vintage of the wine made from that grape.

Weekends during the harvest season, Galen Glen Winery is offering a unique tasting experience for their visitors.  On Saturdays and Sundays in late-September and early-October, the winery is inviting customers to "Taste the Grape, Taste the Wine" by sharing the fruits of their harvest with winery visitors.

Tasting Room Manager Kathy Matson notes, "often when drinking wine one does not think about the actual grape varietal that makes the wine. Not only are we giving our visitors the opportunity to think about the grapes, but we are offering the grape as part of the tasting."

Each weekend during harvest, the winery will offer a sample grape of the varietals being harvested that week along with a complimentary taste of the wine that is produced from that varietal.  

Tour Time

Join us Saturday and Sunday at 3 pm for a guided walking tour of the vineyard. Walking tours are about one hour and one mile in length. You will meander through the vines, to our crush pad and wine cellar and then return to the tasting room. Tours are complimentary and reservations are not required.  We do suggest sturdy footwear.  Tours are given weather permitting. Tours are complimentary, and no reservations are required.

Future tour dates -  October 3 & 4 and 10 & 11

Galen Glen Winery
255 Winter Mountain Drive, Andreas, PA 18211

Are you following on Facebook? Enter our "Fan Friday" contest by Saturday, September 26 to win a new Evolution of Wine T-shirt.  Winner and some big news to be announced on Sunday, September 27.

Vynecrest September wine specials, new wine releases, and harvest update

Harvest update - Traminette has been picked and is in the winery fermenting, and we’ve also finished picking the Pinot Gris and Cayuga. We picked Pinot Noir and crushed it to become a Pinot Noir Dry Rose.

What's new - We have recently released the 2014 Lemberger, Vynecrest White, Vynecrest Red and Riesling.

September Specials 

* Wine of the Month - Summertime Red, additional 10% off 

* Three pack of the month - 3 First Blush for $25

*at winery only, 3 pack can't be combined with other discounts.

September 27 - Vineyard & Winery Tour and Jazz Sunday

Vineyard and Winery tour begins at noon. $5 per person. Tour should wrap up just in time to enjoy some live Jazz music in the Vyneskeller from 1 - 4 pm.

Glass Half Empty by Sam Landis

We started our 39th harvest here at Vynecrest this week and let me tell you there is nothing so romantic, poetic and inspiring as picking, pressing and fermenting the first grapes from a new year's vintage....booooooring.....let's take a quick peak into what "harvest" really is.

Yes, of course there is some inner beauty of growing and producing a future wine right from your own soil. There is the change of seasons and the maturation of the vines from spring through fall. There is the reward of all the hours spent in trying to fine tune 25 acres of grapes each plot of vineyard needing its own specific blueprint. There is the marrying of minds between the Vineyard Manager John and the Winemaker Malachi. There are notes, numbers, graphs and data to ensure the when that stem is clipped and that bunch of grapes falls into our press we have done the best we can for that future wine.

Then there is the other 90 percent of harvest which entails doing the same thing over and over and over. Once all of the intellectual capital is expended harvest really is all about shutting your mind off and becoming a robot. Set up, pick up, lift up, stack up, clean up, repeat. Mind you, this is not that terrible a thing in the least. You would be amazed at how quickly 10-12 hours disappears when you are not tethered to your iPhone, iPad or laptop (which I am as guilty of as anyone). It's actually incredibly liberating and lends itself to the best eight weeks of every year.

When a telemarketer calls to try and set up a meeting I tell them "Sorry, it's harvest season." 

Trash night at my house... "Sorry, it's harvest season." 

Can you do a special free tasting for our club, you will get such great exposure... "Sorry, it's harvest season." 

Sam, you are up on this month's newsletter write up... "Sorry, it's harvest season."

60 percent of the time it works every time.

Tolino Vino Fall Fest and Fundraiser set for September 26 in Bangor

Tolino Vino Fall Fest and Fundraiser – an inaugural festival and fundraiser featuring Tolino Vineyards’ wine, spectacular live music and tasty treats from local food trucks – makes its debut on Saturday, September 26 from noon to 7 p.m. at Tolino Vineyards. Enjoy wine tasting, live music, and wagon tours, and purchase wine and sangria by the glass and food from the TÄZA Truck and the Aioli Truck. Take in the fall sights and sounds of the vineyard while stomping grapes barefoot.  

The musical lineup will start with the Cherry Hill Duo at noon, followed by Scott Marshall and Marshall’s Highway, The Brummy Brothers, Matt Wheeler and Vintage Heart, The Wallace Brothers  and ending with Tom Vicario. Each artist brings their own signature musical style ranging from bluegrass, to singer-songwriter, to rock n’ roll.

A percentage of all wines sales will be donated to the Cancer Support Community of the Greater Lehigh Valley in the name of Anna Mae Becker. Mandy Tolino said "The reason we’re having the event is to honor Anne Mae Becker, our cousin who passed away from cancer. Anne Mae loved sharing a glass of wine with her family and would have loved this event.  It’s going to be a great day.”

Tolino Vino Fall Fest and Fundraiser tickets are now on sale starting at $10 per person and include a seven-hour music experience from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m, a wine tasting and hayride tour. Now through Friday, Sept 25, save $5 on all tickets purchased in advance. Guests under 5 years of age are free, and ages 5-20 and designated drivers are only $5. Advance tickets are encouraged as there will be an additional $5 charge on all tickets purchased on the day of the festival.

To purchase tickets visit www.tolinovineyards.com/specevent.html, call 610-588- WINE, or visit Tolino Vineyards during normal business hours (Monday-Friday, 1 - 6 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, noon - 6 p.m.)

Guests are encouraged to bring a blanket or chair for lawn seating. In the event of rain, the event will be moved inside the tank room and under a tent.
 
Artist lineup:
• Noon:  Cherry Hill Duo - country/top40
• 1:10     Scott Marshall and Marshall’s Highway -  Americana/southern rock/country
• 2:20     Brummy Brothers - bluegrass
• 3:30     Matt Wheeler and Vintage Heart - folk/indie
• 450      Wallace Brothers - folk/country
• 6:00     Tom Vicario  - oldies/country/top40
 
Food truck vendors:
• TÄZA Truck -  Egyptian inspired cuisine
• Aioli Truck - American cuisine

Tolino Vineyards offers a unique setting for this outdoor festival with majestic views of the vineyard and mountains. The winery has won numerous awards for wine, including Double Gold and Governor's Cup at the Pennsylvania Farm Show for their Cabernet Franc. Parking is complimentary.

LEHIGH VALLEY WINE TRAIL’S ANNUAL HARVEST WEEKEND EVENT CELEBRATES VITICULTURE, WINEMAKING, & FARMING

As summer winds down, harvest season begins at the nine locally owned and operated wineries of the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail. It’s the time of year when all of spring and summer’s hard work pays off for these farmers. The grapes they have grown are removed from the vine and their juices extracted for fermenting into the 2015 vintage.

On Saturday, Sept. 12 and Sunday, Sept. 13, the wineries will celebrate the grape harvest with the Wine Trail’s annual Harvest Weekend event during which they will welcome wine lovers for a variety of different activities at each winery such as tastings, vineyard and winery tours, food and wine pairings, and live entertainment. They will also proudly promote the state’s “Pennsylvania Preferred” program by partnering with manufacturers of other Pennsylvania products to showcase their high level of quality.  Visit www.HarvestWeekendLVWT.com for complete event details.

Event hours are Saturday from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon - 5 p.m.  Harvest Weekend is a free event, however each winery sets its own wine tasting fee policy. Please refer to each winery’s web site for specifics.

The Lehigh Valley Wine Trail is a non-profit organization of wineries whose mission is to promote agri-tourism and to create a premier wine destination and grape growing region while promoting Pennsylvania wines from the region. For more information, visit www.LehighValleyWineTrail.com.

HARVEST WEEKEND 2015 HIGHLIGHTS

Amoré Vineyards & Winery, Nazareth - will pair beef barbecue and Cabaret Amore.

Big Creek Vineyard and Winery, Kresgeville - will showcase lemon squares and sugar cookie fruit tarts from MMM...  Cookies. Pair their treats with Moonlight White for the drier wine enthusiast, or Dulcinea for those who prefer something a little sweeter.

Blue Mountain Vineyards, New Tripoli – will partner with Sweet Finesse who will offer samples of their unique artisan chocolate treats to pair with Victoria’s Passion wine, as well as items for purchase. They are also partnering with Trixie’s Treats, award-winning baked goods and savory treats. On Saturday, they will have complimentary live music by Adam Motto from 1-5 pm. For Sunday Blues, award-winning musician Scott Marshall will perform live from 2-5 pm ($5 admission – advance reservations required). Guests should feel free to bring a picnic lunch and enjoy the breathtaking views from the outdoor deck.

Clover Hill Vineyards & Winery, Breinigsville – sample its newly released 2014 Pinot Noir. They will have a farm stand selling vegetables from Bleiler’s Produce Patch, an organic farm, which is located only minutes from the winery in Breinigsville. This weekend is also their anniversary sale. As a thank you for 30 years of business they are offering customers a 30 percent discount on wine purchases.

Franklin Hill Vineyards, Bangor – on Saturday join head winemaker Bonnie Pysher for a Harvest Hike through the vineyard at 1 pm. Bonnie will talk about how they harvest from vine to wine. Then return to the winery and enjoy an outdoor tasting under their new pavilion and a complimentary tour of the facility.  In celebration of the harvest they’ll offer cranberry apple sangria and apple cider spritzers by the glass all weekend, and they’ll have local products such as Klein Farms apple butter, McCollians honey, and fall treats and baked goods from Kendra’s Bakery in Nazareth. 

Galen Glen Vineyard & Winery, Andreas – will offer a complimentary pairing of Late Harvest wine with Mycella blue cheese drizzled with apple caramel sauce. Janet Derkits, renowned cheese monger of Seasons in Bethlehem, will sell cheese plates to enjoy with a glass of wine. Walking tours of the vineyard will be offered each day at 1 and 3 pm.

Pinnacle Ridge, Kutztown - will feature Dry Riesling or Vidal Blanc with fresh, locally grown tomatoes. The tomatoes will be sliced and served with extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and fresh goat cheese from Kirchenberg Farms.

Tolino Vineyards, Bangor - will welcome wine lovers for wine tastings, wagon tours of the vineyard, and live entertainment by the Boiled Owls on Saturday and Tom Vicario on Sunday. They will also offer guests local apples from Scholl Orchards paired with delicious dips, accompanied with their wine.

Vynecrest Winery, Breinigsville - will partner with PA Preferred food truck Stuffed to the Grills both days from 11 am - 5 pm. They will serve up their tasty sandwiches plus their signature dish of Irish nachos - homemade potato chips covered in cheddar cheese sauce and topped with crumbled bacon and green onion, which can then be paired with Vynecrest’s Autumn Gold wine. Vynecrest will also offer free tours of the vineyard and wine cellar each day at 1 pm.